Welcome to the January 27th meeting of the MCCSE Board of School Trustees. We ask that you please come
to order. We're going to start with a celebration of success. This is a time set aside to celebrate
members of our school community. Ms. Harmon. Thank you, President Cooperman, Dr. Winston, the Board
of Trustees and community members. It's my pleasure to share this month's excellent spotlight
It's a feature of every regular board of school trustees meeting. It is a dedicated time to honor the
excellence occurring every day through the dedication of our employees, students, and volunteers who
make a difference in our school community and foster environments that reflect our mission, vision,
and core values. For January, we are proud to recognize the following students from Childs Elementary
School. George Houchin, Jack Riviere, Oliver Staten, Jeffrey Zhang,
for earning second place in the 2025 statewide computer science competition CS for Good Elementary Division.
The competition was held on December 3rd at the Indiana State House, challenged the students from across
the state to design innovative technology solutions that positively impact their school communities.
These students demonstrated exceptional creativity, problem solving and technical skill through the
project, a prototype for an AI enabled leaf cleaning robot.
Their design proposed a solution to help keep storm drains clear by chopping and removing leaves, a
creative approach aimed at reducing flooding and improving community safety. Congratulations to you
all. The teacher is here. Can we recognize the teacher?
And their teacher is Miss Abby Brass. Is that right? Yeah. Good to see you. Congratulations. Thanks.
We are also honored to recognize Pam Snyder, teacher, assistant, and locker room supervisor from Bloomington
High School South. Pam is a true Panther whose creativity and dedication have made a lasting impact
on our school community. Pam is not only an incredible staff member, but also an exceptionally talented
artist. For years, she has helped bring our school to life decorating hallways, painting windows, creating
murals, hanging banners at games,
and ensuring that our space is shining bright for students, staff, and visitors alike. Congratulations,
Pam, and thank you for all you do to make our school such a vibrant and inspiring place. Is Pam here
this evening? All right. Thank you. On behalf of the board, thank you, Ms. Harmon, and congratulations
to all those who have been recognized tonight. We will now proceed to public comments.
Thank you to all who signed up and acknowledged the guidelines to speak to the board tonight. As a reminder,
Mrs. Butcher will ring the bell once to signal you have 30 seconds for your comment, and five bells
to signal your time has concluded. Our first speaker tonight is Alice Kilbride. Good evening, Superintendent
Winston and MCCSE Board of Trustees. My name is Alice Kilbride.
and I'm here tonight as a parent and community member. I want the board to ask more questions about
how schools are dealing with the two-year strategy to sustaining excellence and fiscal transparency.
The plan primarily revolves around adjusting staffing by not posting positions for new hires when teachers
retire or resign. As seen in the personnel report this month, many teachers have resigned. If you compare
that to job postings on the MCCO's website, only five certified teaching positions are listed, and some
are listed as temporary positions.
Will these positions be eliminated this summer? What happens to the students who were in the teacher's
classes for the positions that are not being filled? The students didn't disappear and still need education
provided by a teacher. Not replacing a teacher who resigns mid-year is not strategic. It's convenient.
As seen in the physical report in the board documents from January 6th, the demographic trends of our
school corporation are showing an increase in the number of high-need students. Percentage of special
education, English language learners, and free and reduced students is increasing.
For our teachers to successfully teach these students, class sizes should be lowered. The reduction
in teachers at schools means that class sizes are getting larger. Dr. Henderson reported at a board
meeting that the average class size went up by one student. This is misleading because the comparison
is taking the total number of students in the corporation divided by the total number of certified staff.
I would like to remind the board that not all certified staff are classroom teachers, schools do not
have the same number of students, and some services require small classes. As a parent, I am disappointed
when my daughter says,
Her class sizes are huge and she is worried that her pathway will be cut. Her pathway class is the smallest
number of students in her course load. If a teacher leaves that position and doesn't get replaced, the
pathway may disappear without any input from the community or parents. Again, ask questions about what
creative solutions schools are using to counteract the loss of teachers and how transparent those solutions
have been to parents in the community. Thank you. Thank you.
Next is C4th Breeze. Hello, my name is C4th Breeze. I'm a former student at Bloomington South, and I
hope to keep my comment brief. It was mostly to bring attention to the, is to ask what steps
MCCSE might be planning to take to prepare for, you know, ICE operations, things of that nature. I have
a sibling here who's currently going to North and I know y'all aren't going to be responding to my public
comment, but it is to ask just on a personal level if y'all thinking for yourselves going forward, what
steps can be taken? How can we provide for students and their families
any such operations could happen. Just looking at everything that's happened in the Twin Cities,
in Chicago, in LA, are there lessons learned that those school districts have taken from what is,
you know, occurring? Thank you all so much for your time. I appreciate it. Thank you. Next, we have
Jana Perrine. I may have said your name wrong. Please forgive me.
and a parole. I'm going to reiterate the gentleman's comments. We've seen what's happened in Milwaukee
and is continuing to happen. It didn't go away just because it got really horrible when two people were
murdered through this process. But ICE is all over the country. It is operating. It is kidnapping children.
and parents, and the schools have a responsibility to make sure that there is a plan in place. When
I shows up and the whistles go off, that you know what to do, that everybody in the building knows what
to do, that the students and parents know what to do to avoid being kidnapped and dropped off somewhere
in South Texas with nothing, no transportation or anything.
This is a horrible situation, and it's really terrible, just like shooter, active shooter drills. It's
just something we have to acknowledge. It happens. It's happening. And you need to be prepared. We need
to be prepared as a community to respond to this. Thank you. Thank you. Next is Jenny Noble Kuchera.
Good evening, President Cooperman, Dr. Winston, and MCCSE School Board of Trustees. My name is Jenny
Noble Caccia, and I'm the proud president of the Monroe County Education Association. I speak tonight
in opposition to the board resolution 2026-04, which if passed would allow $12,500,000 to be moved to
this year out of the education fund and into the operations fund. Just so that our larger community
understands
The Education Fund pays for teachers, teachers who work with students. The Operations Fund pays primarily
for buildings, transportation, maintenance, technology, and athletic facilities. Those are important
pieces of our school community. And it also comes from our local property taxes, revenue that,
as we all know, was significantly reduced under Senate Enrolled Act 1 in the spring of 2025.
A portion of this property tax revenue is also sent away to charter schools. Since August of 2024, our
number of full-time teachers has decreased from 834 to 757. We know what the state has not given us,
but the toll that this takes on the teachers who are left is palpable. Fewer adults in a building means
more work for everyone. The negative effect that this can have on students
has larger long-term consequences for their academic well-being as well. In addition, everyone knows
that smaller teacher-student ratios can positively impact kids' learning outcomes. While you may not
see an immediate effect, if you pass this resolution, it's just seen as yet another cut to the morale
of a lot of our teachers. What are we worth? The board's resolution if passed
would move $12,500,000 from the education fund to the operations fund. In essence, this means more money
for ball fields and furniture, and less for the hiring and retaining of qualified professionals to work
with students. Please consider all perspectives before you vote. Thank you. Thank you. And last, we
have Eric Nolan.
Again, I may have mispronounced your name. Hello, thank you. Hi, I'm Eric Nolan. And hello, members
of the board, Dr. Winston, and the administrative team. Just to make sure I'm understanding, yeah, so
what we're looking at is moving $12.5 million from the education fund to the operations fund. The education
fund, again, is the one that pays for teacher salaries. At the same time, there's communication to the public
that we need to right size our teaching positions because there's not enough money to sustain them.
So we're taking money from that fund that pays teachers while stating that we don't have enough money
to pay teachers. In case I didn't say this already, I am speaking as a parent and community member.
I am only representing myself. I think that citizens of Monroe County voted to support MCCSE teachers
by passing the 2022 referendum.
That referendum stated aim was to retain and hire the best teachers and support staff possible because
we know that quality supported teachers make the biggest difference in the lives of our children in
our community. I know that the 2022 referendum funds were limited thanks to happenings in the state
house. Regardless, I feel like MCCSE is breaking trust with our community when we continue to eliminate
teaching positions leading to larger class sizes and increased workload for the teachers remaining.
Can we not find a way to utilize some of that $12.5 million to retain positions, or should we look forward
to continued cuts to teachers and support staff with associated consequences of that decision?
Thank you. Thank you. That concludes our public comments this evening. We'd like to thank everyone who
provided comment this evening.
Sorry, my mic's not on. I'd like to raise a brief point of information. You're recognized. Thank you,
President Coomberman. I want to say in response to a couple of comments about ICE that I do a great
deal of work in the immigration and policy sort of side of things in another side of my work. So I work
with Hoosier Asian American Power. We were the first organization in the state to offer a constitutional
observer training, which is different from a legal observer training.
And the ACLU Indiana has asked us to offer another one both as an emergent sort of situation and in
February. So we're doing that. I say this only to sort of make the point that, you know, sort of very
connected both on the policy side and to rapid response networks across the state regarding ICE. And
in all of our work with these organizations across the Midwest region, one of our sort of closest partners
is in Minneapolis right now.
Their caution to us was that when it comes to your plans, especially safety plans for students and schools,
you should be quiet about them. So I will say that this administration is very, very thorough in the
work that they do to keep our students and our families and our staff safe. That was sort of demonstrated
when we had to lock down 23 schools just this past week
They executed that safety plan in such expedience with such expedience and sort of resolved that issue
very quickly. So what I want to say is to assume that the district and the board doesn't have a plan
I think would be erroneous. This district and this administration has a plan for everything.
Just as with some other safety plans, we do not broadcast those publicly because they then no longer
are safe. So I want to thank the community for their care and their response about our students in the
district because there may be moments when the community is called on to sort of rally. And I also just
want to reassure you that every single person at this table, and I'm speaking for us right now because
I know the hearts of these people, cares about our students in this district.
And so I just want those of you to leave here knowing that. Thank you, President Coberman. I'm sorry,
ma'am. I'm going to have to stop you. But I would thank you, April, for your comments. And honestly,
I just echo that I feel fortunate to be part of a community that feels so passionately about this issue.
Now I'm going to move on to the consent agenda. Feels a bit anticlimactic. So now for our consideration
is the consent agenda that includes the following. Minutes from the board meeting held on December 16th,
2025. Minutes from the board of finance and reorganization meeting held on January 6th, 2026. Memorandum
for the executive session on January 13th, 2026. ECA expenditures.
Overnight and out-of-state field trips, financial report December 2025, appropriation balance report
December 2025, register of claims January 27, 2026, payroll register and payroll claims December 2025.
Do I have a motion regarding the approval of the consent agenda? So moved. Second.
It has been moved by Ashley and seconded by April that we approve the consent agenda as presented All
those in favor of approving the motion signify by saying aye aye Against no Any abstentions Motion carried
Next for our consideration are the donations. We have received donations of over $3,000 and
Thank you to all our donors. Your generosity is appreciated. Do I have a motion to accept the donations?
Do I have a second? It's been moved by Erin Wyatt and seconded by Asia to approve the donations that
we accept the donations as presented. Excuse me. All those in favor of approving the motion signify
by saying aye. Aye. Against, say no. Any abstentions?
motion carries now for our consideration is the repeal of policy 3220.01 teacher appreciation grant
is there a motion to repeal policy 3220.01 teacher appreciation grant as presented second it's been
moved by ross and seconded by april
that we repeal policy 3220.01 teacher appreciation grant as presented. Ms. Harmon, do you have a comment?
Yes, thank you, President Cooperman, Dr. Winston, and members of the board. It is recommended that the
board repeal policy 3220.01, the teacher appreciation grant, due to a change in legislation. This policy
was presented at the December 16th meeting. Policy 3220.01 teacher appreciation
grant approved prior to January 27, 2026 is now deemed null and void and is no longer a valid policy
of the Monroe County Community School Corporation. I so recommend. Do we have any comments from the
board? I just want to be clear because we are repealing a teacher appreciation grant that this is in
response to
legislation and we will replace this with a different type of teacher appreciation that's now being
offered by the state. So this is in response to legislation, not an internal motivation. So any other
comments from the board?
All those in favor of approving the motion signify by saying aye. Aye. Against, say no. Any abstentions?
The motion carries. Next for our consideration is the recommendation to adopt Resolution 2026-03 Teacher
Appreciation Grant. Do I have a motion to adopt Resolution 2026-03 as presented? So moved.
second it's been moved by Ross and seconded by Tiana that we adopt resolution 2026 as presented any
comments from the board all those in favor of the motion signify by saying aye aye sorry miss
Cancel that vote. Ms. Harmon, did you have a comment? I do. Thank you, President Huberman, Dr. Winston,
and members of the board. Resolution 2026-03, the teacher appreciation grant stipend payments follows
guidance from Indiana Code 20-4316 and the Indiana Department of Education and is a stipend to an individual
teacher in a particular year who has met the eligibility criteria. I recommend that the board adopt
this resolution, which approves the following.
The Superintendent of Schools is specifically authorized to pay supplemental payment stipends to identify
teachers through TAG. The supplemental payment stipends authorized herein are one-time supplemental
payments and shall not be added to the base salary of any teacher receiving such stipend. And
the Superintendent of Schools is instructed to distribute all TAG stipends in accordance with requirements
established by the IDOE. I so recommend. Thank you, Ms. Harmon. Now do I have any comments from the board?
I'm new here, so. Okay, so now let's vote. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Any against,
say no. Any abstentions? The motion carries. Next for our consideration is the personnel report. Do
I have a motion to approve the personnel report as presented? So moved. Do I have a second?
Thanks for us. The motion has been moved by Ashley and seconded by Ross. So we approve the personnel
as presented. Dr. Henderson. President Cooper, Dr. Winston and members of the Board of School Trustees.
This evening I would like to call to your attention the following administrative appointments
and retirements. Administrative appointment, Gretchen Hunser, Director of Child Nutrition,
Gretchen joins MCCSC after serving as the assistant director for school nutrition programs for the Indiana
Department of Education, where she has served in various capacities since 2013. Gretchen holds a bachelor's
degree in hospitality and food management from Ball State University. Gretchen joins us this evening
in the audience and would like to invite her up to the podium for just a second to address the board.
Thank you all so much for this opportunity. I'm very excited to get started and serving our MCCSC students
and staff. Thank you. In addition, I would like to point out the certified staff retirements before
you this evening. Joseph Donnelly. Mr. Donnelly has been serving the students of MCCSC for 14 years,
most recently as a music teacher and director of band, choir, and drama at Jackson Creek Middle School.
Support staff retirements on the agenda this evening are Terry Mayer. Terry has been serving the students
of MCCSC over the course of 24 and a half years, most recently serving as a bus monitor for
MCCSC. Altogether, the retirees presented this evening represent a combined total of 38 and a half years
of service to our school community. And on behalf of the Monroe County Community School Corporation,
I would like to extend a special thank you to these individuals
for their many years of dedicated service and wish them well in their next adventures. At this time,
I request that you please approve the recommendations as presented in your board packet in the personnel
report. Thank you, Dr. Henderson. Do I have any comments from the board? I'd just like to say welcome
Gretchen. Child nutrition is kind of one of our gold stars in the corporation, so we're excited to have
you. And congratulations to everyone retiring.
All those in favor of approving the motion signify by saying aye aye Any against say no Do I have any
abstentions? Motion carries Next for our consideration is the collective bargaining agreement with the
American Federation of State County and municipal employees or AFSCME local 3995
Do I have a motion to approve the collective bargaining agreement with AFSCME as presented? So moved.
Do I have a second? Second. It's been moved by Ross and seconded by Erin Wyatt that we approve the collective
bargaining agreement with AFSCME as presented. Dr. Henderson? President Cooperman, Dr. Winston, and
members of the Board of School Trustees, please approve the collective bargaining agreement between
the Monroe County Community School Corporation and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees
AFSCME Local 3995 for the 2026 and 2027 calendar years for all AFSCME support staff groups effective
January 1st, 2026. There is no pay increase. Stipends are awarded to AFSCME employees based on a position's
gross yearly wage without overtime and our medical, vision, and dental insurance contributions and rates
align with and are equitable with the new MCEA agreement.
Thank you, Dr. Henderson. Do I have any comments from the board? I just want to thank everyone who worked
on this contract and this sort of bargaining agreement. I want to thank them. But I also just want to
say that I am grateful that our district continues to sort of value the bargaining process. And for
some of our community who may not know, we're one of the only districts who has a bargaining
sort of agreement with their support staff in this way and so I think it is unique and just sort of
worth calling out. Thank you. Any other comments from the board? Dr. Winston? Yes, I just wanted to
take this moment to extend my appreciation to Randy Tackett and his bargaining team. They were very
wonderful to work with and were so appreciative and I would like to also just acknowledge
Members of my executive team, our CFO, our assistant superintendent for HR, and our assistant superintendent
for curriculum for the tireless hours that they spent alongside AFSCME in coming to a workable agreement
in the midst of the challenges that we all know everyone in the state is facing. So thank you to Randy,
and thank you to my team. Thank you, Dr. Winston. All those in favor of the motion signify by saying aye. Aye.
Against say no Any abstentions the motion carries Next for our consideration are the non-union support
staff and administrative salary and benefits schedule Do I have a motion to approve the non-union support
staff and administrative salary and benefits schedule as presented? Do I have a second second?
It's been moved by Ashley and seconded by April that we approve the non-union support staff
and administrative salary and benefits schedule as presented. Dr. Henderson. Thank you, President Cooperman,
Dr. Winston, and members of the Board of School Trustees. Please approve the non-union support staff
and administrator salary and benefits schedule as presented in your board packet for the 2026 and 2027
calendar years. No increase to base pay.
Stipends awarded to non-union support staff are based on a position's gross yearly wage without overtime.
Stipends awarded to certified support staff and administrators align with stipends awarded to teachers.
And medical, vision, and dental insurance contributions and rates align with and are equitable with
the new MCEA and AFSCME agreements. Thank you, Dr. Henderson. Do we have any comments from the board?
All those in favor of approving the motion signify by saying aye. Aye. Any against, say no. Any abstentions?
The motion carries. We will move to contracts. Do I have a motion to approve the contracts, quotes,
and bids as presented? So moved. Do I have a second? Second. It's been moved by Ross and seconded by Asia.
that we approve the contracts, quotes, and bid as presented. Mr. Irwin. Thank you. All the contracts
have been reviewed through our normal process. There's two contracts that I do want to make note of.
One is the EMB Paving, and one is the Verigee contract. Both of these projects are part of our Designing
and Building to Sustain Excellence project, and they're both budgeted through the 2025 lease rental
bonds that we sold a few months ago. The Verigee project specifically falls in line with our continued efforts
offset our electricity consumption. The past projects have netted the MCCSC over $500,000 of savings
to our operations fund in addition to the IRS rebates that we have submitted for and await arrival from
the federal government. I recommend all contracts. Thank you Mr. Irwin. Do we have any comments from
the board? All those in favor of the motion signify by saying aye. Aye. Any against say no.
Any abstentions? I'm going to abstain. Thank you, Ashley. The motion carries with one abstention. Next
for our consideration is the recommendation to adopt resolution 2026-04, transferring amounts from the
education fund to the operations fund. Do I have a motion to adopt resolution 2026-04 as presented? So moved.
Do I have a second? Second. It's been moved by Ross and seconded by April that we adopt resolution 2026-04
as presented. Mr. Erwin? Yeah, so this is an annual ask of the board. We're required to set an amount
of transfer from education to the operations fund. We're required to stay below 15%.
This dates back to 2019 when they changed the fund structures of which we operate underneath. When they
took expenses that were in the general fund, they moved those to the newly created operations fund and
they did not move the revenue to go along with it. This is an up to amount. It's not the planned amount
that we plan to move from the education fund to the operations fund. We transferred 5.8% this past year
from the education one to the operations fund.
And that's extremely low in comparison to a lot of school corporations across the state. So we are well
within the guidelines set forth in the state. That was predetermined by the state based on the movement
of funds and how they change the allocation of funds. And again, this is an up to amount so that we're
not going back and re-changing this every time that we need to change something. So it is an up to amount.
It is not the amount that we plan to transfer from education to operations. Thank you, Mr. Irwin.
Are there any comments from the board? Yes. Yep. Um, so I went back and I did some looking cause I did
see this on our agenda. And in the past three to four years, we've set that up to amount of 15 million
rather than the 12.5 that we set it this year. And again, it isn't up to amount. So it's not as that
this is something new that we're doing in January of 2026 based on what's been going on.
This is a standard accounting procedure, basically based on state legislation, if I understand it correctly.
We're required to have a resolution that allows the transfer of funds from education operations.
And again, we set that up to amount to protect ourselves so that we're not coming back and continuing
to make adjustments month in and month out. Thank you. I have two questions. One is, since MCEA did
speak on this topic, was this topic at all discussed already?
in discussion. It's not a part of discussion though. Yeah, that's what I thought. Okay, I assume so.
But I just wanted to check. Um, my other question is, I mean, Mr Erwin, what would you say to Mr Nolan's
comment earlier that, um, that this is a disingenuous use of our funds and that it lacks transparency
to our community? So as I stated before, they changed the fund structure from which we operate.
The property tax levy that we receive is not enough to cover the expenses that come into the operations
fund. And so when they move those expenses that were already in the general fund and they renamed that
the education fund, they created an operations fund and move the personnel, but not the funding that
goes with it, which is why they had to allow us to transfer from education to operations because of
the way that they change the way that we account for expenditures of personnel. So again, there's a
lot of, there's a lot of school corporations in the state
that do transfer 15%. And that's varying in reasons and why, but it is very common that as of 10% and
above, and we were at 5.8% this past year, which is something I'm pretty proud of. Yeah, I agree. I
think it's something to be proud of. Thank you for that. Are there other comments from the board? No,
April stole mine. I had the same question I was going to ask. We'll talk about that. So thank you.
All right, all those in favor of approving the motion signify by saying aye. Aye. Against, they know.
Any abstentions? The motion carries. Next, we will consider approval of the 2028-2029 school calendar.
Do I have a motion to approve the 2028-2029 school calendar as presented? So moved. Do I have a second? Second.
It's been moved by Ross and seconded by Tiana that we approve the 2028-2029 school calendar as presented.
Dr. Winston? Yes, I'd like to ask that you accept the recommendation of the school calendar for 2029
school year. The proposal follows previous year's calendar timelines, and it also aligns closely with
Indiana University and Bloomington dates for winter and spring break. School for the 2029 school year
will begin on August 7, 2028.
Fall break has been extended by one extra day. Two built-in snow days are included, as in previous years.
And efforts were made to ensure that semesters were as equal as possible, as could be in length, with
the first semester ending prior to winter break. I so recommend. Thank you, Dr. Winston. Are there any
comments from the board? Just to clarify, did you say August 7? I did.
It says August 4th. That's the thing in front of me. Yes. Let me look at the actual calendar.
It is actually, well, I've got both. Which is correct. Just start the 7th. The 4th is early.
It's a Friday. So it is August 4th. I apologize for my notes being incorrect.
Got people excited. Move it to the seventh? You wouldn't get the right number of days. Friday is so
weird. It would mess up our balance of our semester. Any other comments from the board? I'm sorry. Am
I correct in saying that we only have one snow make-up day built in? Two. Two? OK. And I'm blind.
I think the first 19th. Oh, OK, President's Day. It was in a different color. May 25th and February
19th. Yes, I see that. So we have to start on a Friday? That is the recommendation. And what's the last
day, the 24th?
And the 25th. Oh, I see. It would be the danger record day. Yes. It would also be a snow makeup day.
And then what happens to the 28th? So it says. The 28th is Memorial Day. Oh, duh. OK, yeah. All right.
Is everybody done verbally processing the 28th, 28th, 29th calendar?
Any other comments from the board? All right, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Any against? No.
I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Aye. We're going to take that as an aye. Any reluctant aye? Any nos?
Any abstentions? The motion carries.
Tonight's first district update is diverse learners, special education, Ms. Harmon. Good evening, President
Cooperman, Dr. Winston, Board of Trustees, and community members. As Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum,
Instruction, and Assessment, the Special Education Department
and services they provide is an essential component of what we do. For this presentation, I'll be joined
by our Director of Special Education, Dr. Blaine Garman-McLean. Tonight's presentation is designed to
give you a clear picture of how special education operates as part of our overall instructional system,
not as a separate program, but as a core part of how we ensure every student at MCCSE can learn, grow,
and thrive. We will walk you through who our students are,
how services are delivered, how we staff and fund this work, and what the student experience looks like
across different levels of support. Throughout, our focus is on how we build a system that is both legally
sound and instructionally strong. Here's the overview for tonight. We'll start by grounding ourselves
in who our students are and the core goals that drive our work. Then we'll walk through the system of
supports from inclusive classroom practices to intensive programming and how those supports are staffed
and funded.
I'll also highlight what this looks like for students and families because special education is not
abstract. It is something that plays out every day in our classrooms, in therapies, and in partnerships
with families. The goal is by the end of this presentation, you have a clear understanding of both the
structure of our special education system and how it connects directly to teaching and learning and
student outcomes. At our last board presentation, we centered our corporation's work around the three
outcomes for all students, literacy, numeracy,
and college career and life readiness. Special education exists to ensure that all students with disabilities
are not excluded from those goals, but instead have full access to them. The purpose of this department
is to make sure every student, regardless of learning need, disability, or circumstance, has the supports
necessary to make progress towards those outcomes of literacy, numeracy, college, career, and life ready.
That means some students need accommodations.
Some need specialized instruction, some need intensive services for a period of time, but the end goal
is always the same. Access, growth, and meaningful participation and learning that prepares them for
life and beyond school. What you will see throughout tonight's presentation is how this system of support
is intentionally designed to meet students where they are while still keeping them connected to the
same high expectations and opportunities as their peers.
With that foundation in place, I'd like to turn it over to our Director of Special Education, Dr. Blaine
Garment-McClain. Good evening, President Cooper and Dr. Winston, members of the board and the community.
Thanks for allowing me to present on special education in MCCSE tonight. So first of all, special education
is grounded in state and federal statutes. So laws such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act and Article VII in Indiana establish clear non-negotiables that public school corporations
across the state have to comply with. For example, we have to provide free appropriate public education
to all students ages 3 to 22. We have to conduct and identify individual students who are suspected
of having a disability who live within MCCSE catchment zones. We have to develop individualized education
programs that are aligned with students' needs, support students in the least restrictive environment,
and provide meaningful participation from parents and students that are rooted in procedural safeguards.
These requirements form the foundation of our work. They ensure consistency, equity, and access for
all students and families. At the same time, our approach in MCCSC is not driven by compliance alone.
Instead, these legal obligations directly align with our mission and vision to serve all learners. We
view the law as the starting point for how we design supports and services for students.
Now a little bit about our students. The students we serve represent a wide range of strengths, ages,
and educational settings. MCCSE currently provides special education services to more than 2,100 students.
Most of these students are enrolled in our PK through 12 schools, while others are enrolled in private
schools, non-public schools in our catchment zones, and early learning settings.
Federal law requires public school corporations to identify and support all students living in our catchment
zone, even if they are not enrolled in MCCSE schools. So our services extend well beyond our classrooms.
To support this range of learners, we align services, staffing, and funding to meet their needs.
And first, I'll begin by explaining how services are delivered across different levels of student need.
But first, I'd like to take a moment
to explain the continuum of services in MCCSE. We provide a full continuum of service ranging from general
education with accommodations to highly specialized programs. Importantly, this continuum reflects the
levels of support that students need at any given time in their educational journey. Students move along
this continuum based on individualized needs and placements are reviewed regularly to ensure they remain
appropriate.
And so now I'll speak a little bit about inclusive practices. These are instructional approaches, not
placements for students. Most of our students, in fact, receiving special education services spend the
majority of their day in general education classrooms alongside their peers. Most specifically noted
by the yellow box there representing 82% of students receiving special education services spend 80%
or more of their day alongside students in the general education setting.
Specially designed instruction is not something that happens apart from the classroom. It happens within
it. Through co-teaching, targeted small group instruction, and differentiated materials and strategies,
supports are embedded directly into daily instruction. General and special education teachers alike
share responsibility for student outcomes, combining content expertise with instructional staff holding
and differentiation. When done well, this approach produces meaningful results. For example, in 2024-25
school year,
we saw the percentage of second grade students with disabilities passing iREAD double. Or approximately
93% of MCCSE ninth graders who received special education services were on track to graduate in four
years, a metric we closely monitor for all ninth grade students at the secondary level. These statistics
provide a clear indicator that inclusive intentional instruction can significantly improve outcomes.
But some students require more intensive, highly structured supports.
For intensive programming, it's not a place, but rather a level of individualized instruction aligned
to students' IEP goals. These environments feature small group sizes, increased adult support, evidence-based
instructional approaches, and strong family partnerships. An example of this work, we have a high level
of adult support to students receiving intensive programming. More specifically, there is one adult
for every two students receiving intensive programs in MCCSE.
These programs are essential to ensure students with the most significant needs receive appropriate
and meaningful instruction. Another example of sustaining excellence can be seen in outcomes for students
who participate in Indiana's alternate assessment, IAM. Among the 20 school corporations in the state
with the highest number of alternate test takers, MCCSE ranks eighth in the percentage of students
demonstrating proficiency in both English language arts and mathematics. This reflects the strength
of our intensive programming and the intentional focus
on high quality instruction. In addition to instruction, we provide a range of related services directly
related to students' IEP goals by licensed professionals. These services, such as speech or occupational
therapy, counseling, behavioral support, and transportation are integrated into students' school days
based on individual needs. They are designed to support access, independence, and progress towards IEP goals.
Delivering these services though, as you can imagine, in a highly specialized way, requires a collaborative
workforce. So now, I'll briefly review our staffing structure. MCCSE employs over 300 special education
faculty and staff. This includes supporting both mild and intensive needs, instructional assistants,
also known as paraprofessionals, behavior specialists, school psychologists, mental health therapists,
and special education coordinators.
Each role contributes expertise, allowing us to design and respond to students' need across all settings.
This investment ensures safety, instructional quality, and consistency. Special education services and
supports in MCCSC are supported through a combination of local and state and federal funding. While
federal funding plays an important role, the majority of costs are borne locally and through state tuition
support. This underscores the district's commitment
to meeting student needs beyond minimal requirements, yet demonstrates that federal funding at the time
is insufficient. To bring this system to life, I'd like to share two brief examples of how special education
supports look for individual students. Student A. Student A represents a learner whose needs are best
met primarily within the general education environment, with targeted intentional supports layered in.
In the elementary years,
Student A learns alongside peers in the general education classroom with specially designed instruction
embedded into daily routines. A special education teacher collaborates closely with classroom teacher
to provide targeted small group reading and language support while accommodations ensure access to grade
level content. Speech and language services are integrated into instruction focusing not only on skill
development but also on classroom communication and academic vocabulary. Progress is monitored regularly
and supports are adjusted as needed. Student A transitions into middle and high school, the nature of
support becomes more strategic and increasingly student standard. Instruction shifts from foundational
skill development toward helping students access more complex tasks, assignments, and assessments across
multiple content areas. Co-taught courses provide structure and scaffolding within rigorous coursework
while accommodations are consistently applied.
A special education teacher coordinates these services, monitors progress, and closely works closely
with content area teachers to ensure alignment between IEP goals and coursework standards and expectations.
Over time, IEP goals evolve for foundational academic skills that support success beyond high school.
This progression reflects how special education supports are designed to be and change over time.
maintaining access and belonging while building independence and readiness for life after graduation.
And for student B, student B represents a learner whose needs are more requiring of intensive, highly
structured supports delivered through specialized programming. In the elementary years, student B learns
primarily within a specialized classroom designed to provide predictive routines, explicit instruction,
and high level of adult support.
Instruction is individualized and delivered in small group or one-on-one throughout the day with a strong
focus on communication, social interaction, self-regulation, and foundational academic skills. Sensory
or behavioral supports are embedded into daily routines, creating an environment that supports engagement
and learning. Related services are integrated seamlessly into instruction and daily activities rather
than provided in isolation. As student B transitions into middle school and high school,
Programming remains highly structured but becomes increasingly focused on functional application and
independence. Instruction expands to include functional academics, executive functioning, life skills,
vocational exploration. Transition planning becomes a central driver of instructional decisions with
IEP goals aligned to post-secondary outcomes such as employment, independent living, and community participation.
Over time, intensive programming shifts from primary skill acquisition toward preparing the student
for life after high school. This example provides how intensive special education programming
is intentionally designed to evolve with the student, ensuring supports remain responsive, individualized,
and outcome focused. In closing, special education in MCCSE is a comprehensive system designed to ensure
access, growth, and opportunity for every student.
Thank you for your continued support of our students, staff, and their families. Thank you,
Dr. Garman-McClain and Ms. Harmon. Are there any comments from the board? Just generally, thank you
so much. This is, I think, one of the most important things we do as a school corporation. I really
appreciate the presentation. Thank you.
Next, we will have the initial CFO financial update. Dr. Winston, would you like to begin? Yes, I would.
Thank you very much, President Cooper. One vital indicator regarding the fiscal health of an organization
is the cash flow balances of the various funding sources within our school corporation. Our board of
school trustees has prioritized their number one goal, which is achieving financial balance.
To that end, tonight, we will begin to provide regular updates on our cash balances. Approximately 11
months ago, we began providing quarterly financial transparency updates, and this is just a continuation
and possibly an extension of that level of transparency. We believe it's very important that our community
understand the inflows and the outflows of our dollars and that they understand the importance of this
particular
financial indicator. I've asked our CFO Matt Irwin to provide an update on a regular basis so that our
entire community can gain in their understanding of school finances. So I'll turn it now over to Mr.
Irwin. Thank you. I'm really excited about this process. Obviously you guys are getting the snapshots,
but just the opportunity to talk through some of the things that continue to change or that we continue to see
throughout the school year. And also for people to continue to understand that we're tracking these
things and monitoring these things throughout the year and making adjustments of how we operate or what
it is that we're seeing, especially as it relates to the projections that I do with cash flow. So the
purpose is we're going to go through the five major funds, the five major funds being education fund,
both referendum funds, the operations fund and the debt service fund. That encompasses about 90 plus percent
of the expenditures and revenue that come into the school corporation. So obviously, for those obvious
reasons, that's the focus of what it is that we'll talk about. And as we get into the slides, I want
to just point you to some of the things that continue to change, that things are of note, the pieces
that are important as you guys continue to monitor and track this as we send these things to you. And
then as people are able to view them as we talk about the monthly financials that are in the board report,
or the items that Dr. Winston will talk a little bit later about the financial transparency portal as
well. So we're trying to, we're making a lot of efforts on this in a lot of different ways, but I'm
excited about this education piece at its heart. So that's why I started as a teacher. So, you know,
getting to come back to this piece, I think it's important because I think it helps people understand
the nuances and just some of the different things that occur throughout the year to kind of know what's
normal and what's not normal. So we'll start with the education fund.
One of the things that happened during the month of December, and I'm speaking specifically as far as
how the year ended in this, and that's why I have monthly specifics and year end specifics. But in the
monthly specifics for December, in tuition support, our tuition support payment was updated. Tuition
support is the payment that we receive for the state based on our student enrollment. That student tuition
support is made up of five different categories. One of those categories is the academic performance grant.
So once a year, they update and reconcile the numbers of which we have the performance of our graduating
classes, and they update our funding based on that. Now, in that categorical grant, the funding was
reduced in this legislative session by about half a percent. But overall, with the academic outcomes
of our graduating class from 2025 and the graduating class from 2024, the funding remains about as level
as level gets.
What's different is that from the beginning of this fiscal year, they had not been giving us money for
the dual credits earned for our graduating class of 2024. They wait till reconciled to add that. And
so that will increase our tuition support payment because now they'll start to add in the funding that's
associated with the dual credit attainment of some of our students from the 2024 graduating cohort.
So that's makeup of two pieces. That's something that happens. They'll update the tuition support payment.
but that that occurred during the month of December and then looking forward the special education grant
as was stated in the previous presentation that also they they take a census on that number
for us corporation why that's the December one count and then that is the funding from which we receive
for an entire year until they update that count they'll reconcile and update that funding in February
so that is upcoming so just putting that on your radar as well
And the big thing is in the monthly is we're looking at projections and how actuals come in. And so
I'm evaluating whether or not my projections, I use the term finger on the pulse as far as knowing what
it is that's going on in the school corporation and what we expect to expend and what we expect to receive
in these five major funds on a month in and month out basis. And so the goal is for those to be very
accurate, obviously, and slightly conservative. I try not to be
uber-aggressive in how I project those numbers because I don't want to sell something that isn't as
realistic. I want it to be realistic, accurate, and conservative. And so that is where the numbers came
in in December. And so that's a great thing. A couple of year-end specifics as it relates to the education
fund is that important piece is that we stayed within the budget guardrails that were approved by the
Department of Local Government Finance. Remember that our budget sets appropriation
appropriation is simply the authority to spend so when they give us our certified budget and they certify
what our budget is that's the appropriation that they've given us permission that they've said you have
the revenue and the cash on hand to fund those expenditures so we stayed within those guardrails so
it's important to note that and then again just wanted to note that our cash balance ended
um, above the November quarterly update, which is obviously a good thing as well. Again, accurate and
conservative. We ended above that number and that's a great thing. We'll move to the 2022 referendum
fund and some of these tax levied funds will some of the information will be a little bit redundant.
But again, it helps you kind of grasp what it is that's normal and reoccurring and how these funds operate.
So we received property tax distributions
times a year and so we received our December disbursement of property tax dollars in the 2022 referendum
fund. The DLGF or the Department of Local Government Finance puts out a circuit breaker report in about
usually about April May that gives us an estimation as to what it is that we expect to receive in our
levies after they've done some updating with assessed value. Our number when I look at that report I'm
usually using that as a gauge to say
from our projection standpoint, what can we expect to receive based on this updated information? And
then I usually try to take something that's a little bit more conservative of that number. It was slightly
lower than that, but our collection was good. We collected 98% of levy in the 2022 referendum. One of
the other things that changed the revenue being a little bit lower in the 2022 referendum and some of
our other tax levy funds was that the legislature
made a move where all commercial vehicle excise tax and financial institution tax is only deposited
into the operations fund now going forward. So that started with our December settlement and moving
forward will be that way and prior to that it was spread across all of our property tax levied funds.
So that was something that changed but again expenses across line items were very accurate slightly
below projections and that's
what we want to see again we were within our approved budget and again cash balance as it relates to
the 2022 referendum was about spot on as it relates to the November quarterly projection and so from
that standpoint it's again it's reassuring when those projections remain accurate. The 2023 referendum I
There's some of that redundant information, and so I won't continue to reiterate those pieces. But again,
for those same reasons in the 2023 referendum, as related to the 2022 referendum, there's some little
bit of difference as far as revenue received. And again, that see that NFIT go into the operations fund
reduces that as well. But again, expense is very accurate, slightly below projections. What we want
to see, we were within budget.
And our cash balance is down from January 1 to the end of December, but that's as we continue to manage
early learning and this new referendum. We're not very far into this referendum, but we are headed in
a positive direction. We're continuing to figure that out as we manage the growth of early learning.
Quite frankly, when a lot of other school corporations have not been able to expand early learning or
are wondering how they're going to continue to be able to provide it,
We are fortunate enough to have this referendum that allows us to not only fund it, but we were able
to expand it this year and continue to provide access to students with quality programming. So very
proud of that, but making note of those cash balances. The operations fund, it was the benefactor of
revenue bolstered through CVET and FIT, which is commercial vehicle excise tax and financial institution tax.
Our levy collection was essentially about 100% just below it, which is fantastic. We don't experience
a whole lot of circuit breaker loss, which is less revenue that you receive than what the DLGF has said
that you would be able to levy for. So we didn't experience a whole lot of that, and we don't typically.
And so that's a good thing for us. Again, projections of expenses, very accurate.
We did pay back the tax anticipation warrant that we received back earlier in the first half of this
year. That is that was money received in order for cash flow purposes and our tax levy funds. We go
about six months without revenue coming in. So you have to bridge that gap. And so as we've navigated
being in a place where we talked about our cash balances, not having the appropriate safety nets in
place right now, that tax anticipation warrant
was very much needed in order to help us manage that cash flow until the next property tax disbursement
came in. We sent back that principal and as well as the interest that we paid for holding those funds
back to the Indiana bond bank. We did stay with an appropriation as far as budget goes within this fund.
Cash balance ended up ahead of where we projected with the quarterly report in November.
So that is obviously a great thing as we talk about all the challenges that the operations fund experiences
due to SEA-1 and some of the other factors that we're working through. We will do a little bit smaller
tax anticipation warrant this year. Back in November, you guys approved our ability to go back
and participate in that program again. We are not going to need 10.3 like we did this past year. We
are only gonna do 3 million in T.A.W.
that for this year, the goal is that as we continue to position ourselves and get the appropriate safety
nets and cash balances in place that we won't need to do this moving forward. So that is where we're
headed. That is the job that you tasked us with, with achieving financial balance. And so that is the
goal that we're working towards. Last but not least, just talking about the debt service fund. Again,
property tax levy fund, we received that property tax disbursement.
We were made whole, we received 100% of that levy. All debt payments were made by the required deadlines.
Again, this fund essentially functions as a purpose of us repaying our bond obligations, the payment
schedule on those. It's pretty close to money in, money out as it relates to that property tax disbursement
coming in and the timing of when those bonds are payable. So all debt payments were made by that required deadline.
and that's why I said fund activity aligned to expectations again within budget and then the cash balance
ended essentially where we expected it to go. So as we go through this and in a month by month basis
I'm excited to do this with you and just continue to talk about some of the things that we see or that
we're looking at or that that happened throughout the year
I think it'll be a great opportunity for the board and the public to just to learn a little bit more
about some of the things that go on inside MCCSE. And as we try to do our best to educate about what
it is that we're doing and how we're approaching what it is that we have going on in MCCSE. So I appreciate
your time and I will take any questions that you have. Thank you so very much, Mr. Irwin. I just want
to take a moment to say this is one of the most important tasks
that Mr. Irwin and I engage in on a very regular and consistent basis. It is the best indicator for
understanding and managing, quite frankly, the financial health of the organization. And so he and I
have hours upon hours of discussion about all the minutiae that goes into the cash flow reports. It's
the number one thing that I ask of him, and it's the number one thing that we talk about. And so it's
important to me
that as an audience, while it may be somewhat boring to you, I think if you really want to understand
and be actively engaged in the financial health of our organization, it really is important that all
of us listen intently to heighten our understanding because that's part of our goal is to make sure
that you have questions, that we answer those questions,
and that we continue to be as transparent as possible. So I just want to say thank you so very much
for your leadership in this area, Mr. Irwin. I think that it's going to benefit everyone in our community
and our board equally. So that concludes our presentation. Thank you. I have a question. Yeah, of course.
So I really appreciate this new effort to demonstrate cash flow and just talk the community and the
board through that. And I appreciate the ongoing move towards
fiscal, like just transparency. Mr. Irwin, can you remind me, do all of our employees' salaries get
paid out of the education fund? No, they don't. So some of them are out of the education fund. Some
are out of the operations fund. Some are out of the referendum funds, debt service. There are none,
because we're not allowed to spend salary, wages, and benefits out of the debt service fund. But all
those other funds have
staff wages and benefits in them, SBOA or State Board of Accounts dictates to us what places you're
going to account for certain expenditures, right? So it kind of gets back in a little bit of
that conversation as it relates back to the transfer. We are prescribed to account for certain expenditures
and certain funds. And so that's the way that we do it because that's the way that it's prescribed to
us. That's right, yeah. I thought that I remembered that we pay for employee
salaries both out of education and operation and referendum funds. I think that's important for the
community to know and to hear at this point. I think that that was my only question on this. Are there
other questions from the board? Yeah. So, and again, Ms. Sherwin, as a clarifying point again, for us
and for the community, projects that we approved tonight, for instance,
project of Bloomington North, the solar project by Verigee, those are paid, and it's specified that
they're paid through our lease bonds. Just to be clear, the debt service fund is what pays that back,
and that's its own property tax levy source of funding, correct? That is correct. They can't be commingled
with other funds. That is correct. Okay. I wanted to be sure. Yes. That I was clear on that. Thank you.
I appreciate the updates. Hope the board does as well. I know it's a lot of work and I know that numbers
can be really tedious and boring for those of us that don't work in them every day, but I really appreciate
that you always make it digestible and easy to understand.
Yeah, I would echo that because I mean, I don't work in numbers and I find numbers sometimes boring,
but you don't make it boring. You make it interesting. I appreciate that. I'll take that pat on the
back. Yeah. I mean, I'm telling you, since you've started explaining this, it makes sense to me.
So thank you.
My students tell me I don't pause long enough for questions, so I'm trying to do better here. Use your
wait time, right? Yeah, exactly. I'm not comfortable with silence. Are there any other comments from
the board? Thank you, Mr. Irwin. Thank you, Dr. Winston. Are we doing another? No. Nope. Nope. Tonight,
we will provide our community with a short yet important update on the current Indiana legislative session.
Dr. Winston, would you like to begin? Sure. The 124th General Assembly is in a short session right now,
and the deadline for the completion of this work is February 27th. So there's a lot of activity going
on. There have been, to date, approximately 700 bills that have been filed, and of those 700, approximately
73 address K-12 education matters. Board member Hennessy is going to highlight a couple of them just
for your awareness.
Thank you, Dr. Winston. So a few bills that we're watching are SB 78. And so this is a cell phone use
in school bill. This bill would prohibit the use of cell phones in schools for the entire school day.
School corporations, school boards will be required to pass a policy to either prohibit them from being
in schools or for storing them for the entire day. So we are obviously keeping a close eye on that.
The other one that we're watching right now is SB 199. So this is with regard to social media.
This bill prohibits the use of social media accounts by children 13 and younger. Dr. Winston, do you
have the last comments on this or do I? You do. Okay. As this year's legislative session winds down
over the next month or so, please continue to make your voices heard by calling, texting, or emailing
your legislators. On our website, under the Board of School Trustees tab, there is a link to our area
legislators and these monthly updates.
Let's all do our part to speak up and stand united in support of our students in K-12 public education.
Thank you very much. Thank you, Board Member Hennessy. This doesn't say to pause for board comments,
but are there any comments from the board? I'm doing it. I'm going around. We look forward to receiving
these monthly updates during the legislative sessions.
Are there any other reports or comments from the boards or the committees that they sit on? Thank you,
everyone. And finally, Dr. Winston, do you have any additional information you would like to share tonight?
I do have a couple things. Thank you.
Last Thursday, we and several other schools were in the unfortunate position of being informed by the
Bloomington Police Department that there was a non-specific threat to student safety in Bloomington
area schools. We immediately enacted all safety protocols and placed all 23 of our schools on lockdown.
During our lockdown, our teachers continued to provide instruction in their classrooms while our school
resource officers, security staff, and administrators conducted full school-wide sweeps.
We received assistance from local authorities as they patrolled our schools to secure the perimeter
of our buildings and to provide additional support as necessary. It is important for everyone to know
that our top priority is always to ensure the health, safety and well-being of our students and our
staff. Our teams did exactly that. At no time were any members of our 10,000 plus students or 2,000
employees at risk or in harm's way.
Once we were able to confirm that the threat was not real, and that it was a swatting call, and that
everyone was safe and not at risk, we pivoted to our next priority, which was to inform our families.
We understand that families may have questions while our safety teams are actively investigating a situation,
and we are committed to sharing information as soon as we can do so without compromising the safety
efforts of our students or our staff.
As part of our normal protocol, my team and I conducted an after action review whereby we discussed
what happened while focusing on identifying opportunities for making improvements. We learned one or
two things as a result of our after action review. This incident has prompted us to continue to study
all of our systems and processes very carefully. We do that on a regular basis already.
We learned that there is a balance between the urgency with making sure that students and staff are
safe, our very first and ultimately our most important priority, investigating the situation to assess
if there is an actual threat, and informing our parents. Understandably, our parents want to know the
moment we know something. In the best case scenario, we would secure the safety of thousands of students and staff
we would coordinate with the local authorities, we would investigate the threat, all while communicating
simultaneously with our families. The reality is that we will always ensure the safety of our students
and staff first and foremost. Once their safety is confirmed, and quite frankly not a moment before,
then we will notify our families. The second thing that we learned
is that while the majority of our family and staff notifications went out on schedule, we learned that
some of our families experienced delays in receiving our message, and we are addressing that. It was
absolutely unacceptable that the system did not work as intended. In closing, we remain committed to
providing a safe and secure environment in every one of our schools and every one of our offices. Our
schools regularly practice our school safety plans
that were created in partnership with local law enforcement, and our employees are trained in school
safety response protocols. We take every report regarding student and staff safety seriously, and we
remain committed to providing a safe and secure environment. I want to extend my deepest appreciation
to our staff, our chief of police, the Bloomington Police Department, and our school resource officers
and administrators for their efforts in ensuring the safety of everyone in our schools. If you want
to know more about how our schools handle safety I encourage you to go to our school safety website at mccsc.edu
backslash safety. As always if you see something say something. I am thankful and grateful that
Every one of our 10,000 plus students and 2,000 plus employees were able to go home to their family's
safety. And that is the ultimate measure of success. I'd also like to take a moment to provide an inclement
weather update. I probably don't really need to give you an update. We're all experiencing it. But due
to the unprecedented weather event over the last several days and the corresponding snow and wind chill
and unpassable roads throughout our
County in particular, but even within the city, we did have to cancel school yesterday, and we were
thankful to be able to have a snow day. We were not quite certain whether or not there would be power
outages yesterday, but we were in close communication with Duke and other authorities. In order to make
up yesterday's day, we will have school on Monday, February 16th, President's Day. January is School
Board Appreciation Month,
And I'd like to take this opportunity to thank our trustees for the very many hours away from their
families that you take each and every month in support of our schools. I'd like to extend a special
thank you to our own community partners, Mark Slayton, who provided the crumble cookies. I cannot take
credit for it as much as I would like to. And so we're very appreciative of that partnership as well.
And my final update.
is one that continues with the work that we've been engaged in for many, many months. Who has the clicker?
Will you click for me? Just realize I can't click. So tonight, I'm pleased to share another important
step forward in our commitment to transparency, accountability, and strong financial stewardship.
MCCSE is launching a new financial transparency portal. Every dollar, every student. It is a clear,
user-friendly online hub where families, employees, and community members can easily see how our corporation
is funded and how we invest every dollar to support student success. The portal brings together annual
budgets, revenue and expenditure reports, explanations of state funding categories, referendum spending,
and updates on bond funded capital projects. You know all those things that are very confusing and it's
all in one accessible location. Our goal is really simple to make school finance understandable for
every member of our community. It's that important. This portal aligns directly with our board's priority
of achieving fiscal balance through clarity strong internal controls and responsible long term planning.
We want our community to have confidence that MCCSE is managing resources wisely and communicating openly.
We are proud to offer this new tool and we believe that it will strengthen trust, improve understanding,
and deepen our partnership with the community that we serve. The Financial Transparency Portal will
launch this week on our website. So I'd like to take a moment to walk you through a few slides that
highlight our goals for this new portal.
This new resource, every dollar, every student, is designed to help everyone understand the basics of
school finance. And as you see here, this just kind of highlights the fact that we recognize it's not
an easy thing to understand. And there are hundreds of misunderstandings relative to school finance.
And we want to focus on trying to demystify some of that so that when we engage in conversation and dialogue,
that we have some common background. At the heart of this portal is financial transparency. Our board
of school trustees has made a commitment to achieving fiscal balance. We believe that part of fiscal
stewardship is about accountability and about transparency. And we want to make sure that you have access
to information about our operating funds
capital, referendum, and our bond funds as well. Next slide. This will become a central hub for all
of MCCSE finances. The strategy for doing that is for us to have sound financial decision making. If
you go to this website, it will be publicly available as early as tomorrow. It is designed for parents,
staff, employees, and our community partners
that you can understand exactly where we are with our finances. Our intention is to update it regularly
with current as well as historical data. We want this portal to serve as your one-stop-shop location
for all things school finances in MCCSC. Right now there are a number of key features. We have the 2026
budget already loaded that's been approved by the DLGF. We are thinking about this in terms of
School Finance 101, what are the five main buckets? And you heard Mr. Irwin talk about some of those
key buckets this evening. We think it's important to have an FAQ section so that the questions that
we commonly receive are also here on the website to help and assist folks in expanding their understanding.
We've done a lot of work around communicating the referenda dollars that we've received and how we're
spending those dollars.
But most importantly, the impact that those dollars are having. And then you'll see information about
our two-year strategy. We will continue to expand our portal by providing additional information over
time. In the next couple of months, we will be uploading our 2025 revenue and expenditures. We're in
the process of finalizing those reports, and they'll be submitted to the DLGF within the next several
days, quite honestly.
We want to be able to provide information about our bond and capital projects. And so next month, we
anticipate sharing that information with you and highlighting how is it that we are able to pay for
renovations and construction projects. And as you heard from Mr. Irwin, there's not a single dollar
from any referenda that goes towards those projects. We believe that this portal will be helpful to
our community
as well as to our students. Families will better understand how dollars are spent. We will better understand
the impact that they have on the children that we are serving. And importantly, our taxpayers will see
how public funds are being used responsibly. In our portal, you will find a few things. You'll find
the FAQs about our finances and how the dollars support our students.
you will see our budget and exactly what our budget dollars look like and the allocation of those dollars.
You will also see the FAQ information where we begin to ask and answer specific questions. A common
question is how can we afford construction projects if we're receiving fewer dollars in these other
areas? And we are able to do that because of our debt service fund and because of the bonds that we've
been able to sell based upon the approval of this board.
I think it's important to know that the work that we're doing is protecting our property tax dollars
that must be used for voter approved purposes. The referendum dollars that we have, there are certain
provisions that are community approved and we want to make sure that we are continuing to align with
that. Additional FAQs continue to talk about what does that look like. And so these are the examples
of the kinds of questions that you will see so that we can help you to understand.
how and why we are being strategic, how we are spending those dollars, and what kind of impact at the
end of the day they're having on our children. In terms of what's next, we will have this published
shortly in the next couple of days. Phase two of this portal will roll out in February, the building
and renovation and our bond work. And in March, we'll have more information about
the last couple of years spending reports that will by that point in time have been finalized by the
state. We anticipate that this is going to continue to evolve and to grow and we will make additional
enhancements. I think it's important for you to know that our promise is to continue to keep our students
at the center, to maintain transparency by sharing this level of accountability,
We want to make sure that we hear from our community. We don't want this to just service our needs.
We want to make sure that we are listening intently to what additional information would be beneficial
for our community to see here. And I think at the end of the day, it's important to know that we believe
that every dollar, every student, every day matters. And so we're very excited to roll this out. I'd
like to just take a quick moment to thank
Matt Irwin, our Chief Financial Officer, Adam Terwilliger, our Assistant Director of the Budget Office,
and Sarah DeWeese for their tireless hours and efforts in putting this together to be able to showcase
and to share this level of information with our schools. I wanted to give Mr. Irwin a moment to see
if there's anything else that you would like to highlight as we prepare to conclude.
Well, I think just the one point is just kind of touching on what Tiana had said before about trying
to make it digestible, trying to make it something that is easy to understand and follow along. I think
a lot of this information, you find it in different places, whether that's with the DOE or the DOE link
portal and Gateway and the DOGF website, all these different places. We're trying to bring this information
together in one place, like Dr. Winston said, to make it more accessible,
digestible and easy to find. So we just appreciate getting feedback from people once they get the chance
to look at it. And hopefully it's something that people find useful, whether they're a staff member,
a community member, or quite frankly, the board. So thank you. We encourage you to go to this link and
just play around and see what you see and find out what's not there. But know it's a work in progress.
I anticipate that we will constantly be updating this. But if you have suggestions,
know that we are welcome. We are receptive to hearing this. So thank you very much for the opportunity
to share this exciting update with all of you. Thank you, Dr. Winston. And thanks again, Mr. Irwin.
Mr. Weiss, I don't think, I don't think Mr. Twilliger is here. But thank you. I know that this was a
lot of work. So thank you so much.
for the work on this. Can I add a thank you to your list of thank yous? I think the members of our facilities
team who have been digging us out of the snow for the past couple of days, I know that hasn't been an
easy job, so I just wanted to add a thank you to them. The next regularly scheduled board meeting will
be held on Tuesday, February 24th, 2026. We are adjourned.